Rafferty Asset Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Edison International (NYSE:EIX)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lessened its position in Edison International (NYSE:EIX) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,472 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,026 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Edison International were worth $3,471,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Edison International in the fourth quarter worth about $323,443,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in Edison International by 364.1% in the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 3,369,535 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $269,024,000 after buying an additional 2,643,571 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Edison International by 53.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,757,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $459,642,000 after buying an additional 2,016,017 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Edison International by 149.3% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,793,795 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $223,057,000 after buying an additional 1,673,204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Edison International by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 48,589,777 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,879,408,000 after buying an additional 1,559,501 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group raised Edison International from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Edison International from $75.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Guggenheim cut shares of Edison International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Edison International from $88.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Edison International from $94.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Edison International currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.96.

Edison International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EIX opened at $58.62 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.07. Edison International has a fifty-two week low of $49.06 and a fifty-two week high of $88.77. The company has a market capitalization of $22.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Edison International (NYSE:EIX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.16. Edison International had a return on equity of 13.17% and a net margin of 8.52%. The company had revenue of $3.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Edison International will post 4.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Edison International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th were paid a dividend of $0.8275 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.65%. Edison International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.95%.

Edison International Company Profile

Edison International, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation and distribution of electric power. The company supplies and delivers electricity to approximately 50,000 square mile area of southern California to residential, commercial, industrial, public authorities, agricultural, and other sectors.